From 1996 to 2011, U.S. broadband Internet companies invested over $1.2 trillion in communications networks, and these investments have paid huge economic and social dividends.

Over 6.3 million U.S. jobs have been added because of the Internet and broadband, more than 500,000 Americans are working in the new app economy, and today’s connection speeds on many networks are 19 times faster than they were just six years ago.

The U.S. is by far the most popular destination for migrant inventors, hosting 57% of the world’s inventors that reside outside their home country. Moreover, there are 15 times as many immigrant inventors in the U.S. as there are American inventors residing abroad.

Switzerland, Germany, and the UK also attract considerable numbers of inventors. Interestingly, though, Germany and the UK see more inventors emigrating than immigrating. Canada and France similarly show a negative net inventor immigration position.

One in every five jobs in the U.S. required a high level of knowledge in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) as of 2011. Since the industrial revolution, the share of these kinds of jobs in the U.S. workforce has roughly doubled.

The Brookings Institution recently released “The Hidden STEM Economy,” a report that reviews the concentration of jobs that require technical knowledge.

The major causes for low subscribership, as extensive survey research shows, are low interest in the Internet and minimal digital literacy. And too many American households lack the money or interest to buy a computer.

The global economy is finally heading back towards a growth path, according to the latest forecasts from the OECD. GDP in the U.S. is set to grow 2.8 percent next year, against 1.9 percent in 2013. Japan’s economy is forecast to grow 1.4 percent in 2014 after 1.6 percent in 2013.

Even the crisis-stricken Eurozone can look forward to modest growth of 1.1 percent next year, after shrinking by a predicted 0.6 percent in 2013.

Last year, Representatives Rogers and Ruppersberger introduced CISPA, which would create a gaping new exemption to existing privacy law.

CISPA would grant companies more power to obtain “threat” information (such as from private communications of users) and to disclose that data to the government without a warrant — including sending data to the National Security Agency.